Government Counter Fraud Awards

Awarding excellence

When the National Trading
Standards (NTS) Scams Team entered the Government Counter Fraud
Awards for the first time in 2016 they did not expect to win. With three years plus a new initiative under
their belt the NTS team took a leap of faith and entered the Government Counter Fraud Awards for 2016. NTS Scams Team manager, Louise Baxter, said; "At the outset we hoped we would be
shortlisted, so we were over the moon and genuinely surprised to win the Excellence
in Fraud Awareness category at the 2016 awards.”

Launchpad to success

The win secured the
team far more than recognition for a job well done. The NTS Scams Team had recently completed a
‘soft launch’ for a new initiative, Friends Against Scams, and were able to
use its early success as the basis for their Government Counter Fraud Awards
nomination. Aimed at consumers, Friends
Against Scams featured a dedicated website packed with guidance on how to
recognise scams. The campaign was
designed to target whole communities to ensure that even those who are hard to
reach and often forgotten, receive awareness messages.

Baxter added;
"Getting public buy-in to a new scheme can be tricky. The Award win came at the perfect time. Early feedback and results from the soft
launch were really positive. But, being
shortlisted and then winning the award helped us to gain traction with external
audiences. It definitely lent a degree
of gravitas and credibility to our campaign. The Award acted as a launchpad to help us to
continue to raise the profile of the website and to encourage people to become
a ‘Friend Against Scams’. This was no
mean feat.” The win ensured a greater
reach, particularly amongst more vulnerable community members.

Entering is easy

Whilst judging is
rigorous, entering the 2017 Government Counter Fraud Awards is straight
forward. Commenting on the process,
Louise explained; "Sometimes teams do not enter awards because there is the
perception that the process of entering will require a lot of effort. The Government Counter Fraud Awards are not
onerous to enter and you very much get out of it what you put in. From our viewpoint, the whole exercise was
incredibly worthwhile. Even being
shortlisted for such an award gave individuals and the team a boost.”

Get connected

The NTS Scams Team
success at the Government Counter Fraud Awards was celebrated across the
trading standards profession. The Excellence
in Fraud Awareness award drew attention to an innovative, new programme. Along with professional recognition, the NTS
Scams Team also benefited from attending the award ceremony as it increased
their opportunity to network and make useful contacts for the team across the
counter fraud industry.

"We were delighted
that many of our industry peers celebrated and were genuinely pleased for
us. Our team moral received a welcome
boost too, and there were tears on the night as we collected our award for
excellence. If you are thinking about
entering the awards this year, I’d encourage you to really go for it!” said
Baxter.

Anyone
can become a victim but, more importantly, anyone can become a Friend Against
Scams and help their friends and family protect themselves.